This invention relates generally to muscle clips and the method for using the same for muscle surgery. More specifically, this invention relates to the method and apparatus for an absorbable, hemostasing, extra ocular muscle clip for needleless strabismus surgery. The purpose of this invention is to replace traditional sutures for eye muscle operations with a clip device, which because it does not require needles, avoids the serious potential complications involved with this type of procedure. The apparatus which is taught herein also solves the problem of hemorrhage during the operation which occurs because of the extensive vascularization in this area. By cross-clipping the muscles, the blood vessles are occluded, avoiding the problem of hemorrhage.
There are two major types of strabismus surgery. In one, the eye muscle is strengthened by excising a portion of the muscle and reconnecting the remaining portions. In the other type, the eye muscle is weakened by posteriorly displacing the muscle. This is done by detaching the muscle from the eye and resecuring it further back by means of suture. Both types of surgery require the use of cutting devices and needles to be used in and near the eye.
In the old method of performing strabismus surgery, the muscle is identified and elevated with a muscle hook. A suture is then weaved in and out of the muscle end with a very fine needle which may pass too superficially and miss the main structure, may pass too deeply and penetrate the eyeball or may engage one of the major blood vessles causing hemorrhage. The muscle is then cut off the eye and resecured more posterially by suture. This is accomplished by passing the needle through the tough coat of the eye (which is only 0.6 to 1.0 mm thick) and by knotting the suture in the eye and the suture in the muscle together. Serious complications may occur if penetration is either too deep or too shallow. The risks under the old technique include blindness due to penetration of the eye, hemorrhage and excessive scarring, and tremendous variability of surgical results because the surgery, at present, is done freehand; that is, in many cases without measuring the exact distance by which the eye muscle is displaced.